Archived News for Health Sector Professionals - June, 2011
South Australia has announced a $19.3 million spending package over four years to increase and support digital screening services at BreastScreen SA.
The Treasurer, Jack Snelling, said the new digital technology would increase the total number of women screened from 73,000 this year to more than 96,000 by June 2015.
He said that in the first three years all eight analogue screening units currently in use will be replaced with digital mammography equipment, a new archive and communication system will be set up and a third mobile unit will be replaced.
SA announces Royal Adelaide Hospital contract
The South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, has announced the finalisation of the contract to construct, operate and maintain the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH).
NHMRC to conduct forum into health effects of wind turbines
The National Health and Medical Research Council will conduct a scientific forum into investigating the possible effects of wind turbines on health and will hear the latest international scientific evidence and engage with stakeholders over the range of issues for which there is public concern.
Senate Committee slams health practitioner regulation body
The Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee has slammed the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) for its failure to satisfactorily set up and operate the national registration system for Australia’s 528,000 health practitioners, causing massive impacts across the health services sector.
Cancer Nursing Research Unit launched in Sydney
A Cancer Nursing Research Unit has been launched as a collaboration between Sydney Nursing School at the University of Sydney, the Cancer Institute of New South Wales and the Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
New laboratory to focus on back pain and osteoarthritis
A new Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Research Laboratory has been launched at the University of Sydney which will integrate basic and clinical research to develop pioneering interventions to prevent, minimise or manage injury, chronic disease and disability.
University of New England to lead rural mental health research project
The University of New England will lead a $7 million research project on rural mental health, with funding of $4.8 million contributed by the Federal Government through the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) program.
The Collaborative Research Network for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Rural Regions will work with five partners - Universities of NSW, Sydney, Newcastle, and La Trobe, and Hunter New England Area Health Service - to expand rural health strengths, and feed into the education of health professionals and better rural mental health services.
CRN activities will build links with rural communities and health providers in NSW and Victoria, with a focus on investigating and improving mental health and wellbeing.
Studies show that people living in rural regions and remote areas tend to be in poorer health than those in urban areas. There is excessive mortality in rural areas related to mental health disorders, and differences in morbidity rates are linked to access to services and quality of life for those suffering from mental health disorders.
NHMRC project to look at new diabetes services
A new collaborative National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) research project led by Clinical Professor Lin Perry of the University of Technology Sydney has been funded to develop and test a new model of diabetes services.
Alfred opens burns unit
Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital has opened the newly refurbished Helen Macpherson Smith Burns Unit after spending $2.6 million on the upgrade.